# The AI glossary: answers first, no hype

Short definitional pages for the AI and automation terms that show up in sales calls and vendor decks: AI agent, RAG and webhook. Each page opens with a definition short enough to quote in a meeting, then shows how the term looks inside a real project.

Half the AI vocabulary you meet in 2026 is marketing. When a vendor says "agents", they may mean a scheduled script; when they say "trained on your data", they usually mean retrieval, which is cheaper and often better. This glossary defines terms the way we use them when we build: precisely enough to catch a bluff, and short enough to read in full. Every entry ends the same way, with how the term shows up in a project we shipped, because a definition you cannot connect to a working system is trivia. For the systems behind the vocabulary, see [custom AI agents](/en/solutions/ai-agents/) and the rest of the [solutions](/en/solutions/); for the buying side of the jargon, [what an AI agency actually does](/en/blog/what-an-ai-agency-actually-does-ceo-guide-2026/) is the longer read.

## In this section

- ### [What is a webhook?](/en/glossary/what-is-a-webhook/)
  A webhook is one system calling yours the moment something happens, instead of you asking every few minutes. Why it matters for lead response time.
  Data checked: 12 October 2026
- ### [What is an AI agent?](/en/glossary/what-is-an-ai-agent/)
  An AI agent decides what to do next and uses tools to do it. How that differs from a chatbot and from plain automation, with a production example.
  Data checked: 12 October 2026
- ### [What is RAG (retrieval-augmented generation)?](/en/glossary/what-is-rag/)
  RAG gives a model your documents at question time instead of training them in. What it is, when it beats fine-tuning, and what it costs to run.
  Data checked: 12 October 2026

## Frequently asked

### What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?

A chatbot converses; an agent acts. A chatbot answers questions in a chat window, while an agent calls tools and APIs (your CRM, calendar, email) to complete tasks, sometimes with no conversation at all. Many production systems are both: a chat interface in front, an agent doing the work behind it.

### Do I need to know these terms to work with an AI agency?

No. A good agency translates everything into your process and numbers. But knowing a dozen terms keeps vendors honest, and that is exactly what this glossary is for.

### What is the most misused AI term right now?

"Agent". In 2026 it gets applied to everything from a cron job with an API key to genuinely autonomous multi-step systems. Our definition page draws the line: if it cannot decide between actions and use tools to carry them out, it is automation, not an agent.

## Which process costs you the most?

Thirty minutes, free. You leave with a concrete fix plan and what the process costs you. The plan is yours, even if you build it without us.

[Book a free audit](/en/free-audit/)

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AI and automation terms defined in plain language, each with a short, quotable answer and an example from a real deployment. No hype.

Source: https://dobify.dev/en/glossary/